Paper Roses
by HoshisamaValmor
Summary: The little girl who would later be known as Doll wants to help her family, but living in the gutters makes it hard to even survive. It doesn't mean though, that she can't yearn for the simplest of wishes to be true, even something as simple as having a rose - or a rose made out of paper; or something as hard as their survival. Set before Noah's Ark Circus.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** I have this planned for nearly 5 years - yes, it's a ridiculous amount of time. I thought it was about time to write this.

This is set when everyone still lives at East End and will have two chapters, with Doll as the main character - she doesn't have that name at this point (most of them don't, they'll refer to themselves by the family nicknames).

Lastly, cockney English is interesting but very hard for me to write with, so I 'ope ye don't mind a bit o' tryin' and possible foul ups.

Both original and current draft made at candle light as usual, and I specifically chose a candle scent I used 5 years ago and the same music I listen back then to write this now.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Kuroshitsuji or any of its characters, they belong to Toboso Yana.

**Edit:** Thank you so much to TheCrowMaiden for the thorough correction of my mistakes! I really appreciate the time you took to help me.

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A middle aged lady called out to her customers, showcasing the different flowers in her cart and inviting the passer-by to feel their scent and appreciate their vibrant colours. Some of the lords and ladies seemed interested and let out comments and exchanged coins with the flower lady, but most people shot a single glance and continued on their much more important affairs.

The most interested and fascinated person was actually a young freckled girl peeking from the other side of the street. Against all her deepest desires, she didn't dare approach the cart, afraid and expecting to be chased off because of the dirty tattered makeshift dress she wore, and even more so because of her face.

She loved flowers. As soon as she had caught a glimpse of the flower lady from afar, she ran as close as she dared and stared at all the different colours and shapes with wide bright eyes, her mouth parted in awe. With her front tooth missing, she would look like an adorable young girl making her way to play with her friends after a very full and delicious lunch served by several maids, and maybe even go to a fancy tailor to find new garments.

But she was far from being a high born lady to afford all that luxury. Quite the contrary.

She was meant to be begging for money, but she ignored her rumbling stomach as best as she could. When, in turn, her stomach ignored her and growled so loudly she actually trembled from the ache, the girl hit her tummy angrily.

"Stop that!" she commanded. "I just want to see the flowers a bit more."

Amongst the flower cart were roses, big bushes with red and pink roses, but the white ones were her favorite. They almost seemed to sparkle! So white, she'd be afraid to even touch them and stain the petals.

The truth was, after struggling so hard to forget everything that happened before she was kicked out to the streets like trash, she couldn't (and didn't want to) even remember her real name anymore. And she was happy for that - she could be whoever she wanted, and chose the name she liked. Peeking the beautiful flowers from afar, she decided her name would be Rose - not because she was beautiful, but because she loved the flowers.

"Rose," she tried the name out loud and though it sounded strange for such an ungirly scarred girl like herself, it was perfect.

The flower lady started to move her cart to another street, and one of the flowers fell down to the ground. Rose squeeled softly and waited a few seconds while a chariot crossed the street before running to the other side and dared to pick it up; it was a bright but small sunflower, and Rose smiled widely.

"What're ye doin'?" came the immediate shout, and she cringed, prepared to run. The scream that followed made her realize it was the flower lady who had caught her, and was now shouting at her, but as Rose ran away, she tripped on a man coming out of a pub.

"Watch where ye're goin'!" she was shouted at again as the man dusted off his clothes, like he feared he had been sullied. "Gutter rat!"

She stood up fast, but as she did so she felt the sunflower slip through her fingers. She had no time to pick it up, not with the flower lady and man of the pub yelling. Her feet were cold but she was used to running barefoot. She only forced her small panting body to stop when she was sure she was safe.

Rose inhaled and regained her breath slowly, looking down at her dirty fingers. The flower was gone. She hadn't even stolen it, it was dropped on the floor, no one would want it. She didn't do anything wrong. At the smallest sign of her eyes tearing, she shook her head to stop them. Maybe some other day she would find another flower. Maybe...

A sudden thought crossed her mind. Maybe, just maybe... what if she sold roses herself? She'd seen the fancy lords buying flowers, it could earn them some money! Of course she wouldn't be able to get actual roses, but what if she made them instead?

Rose looked around the alley she'd found shelter in, spoting a scattered journal paper and picking it up. It was dry and just a bit dusty. With a slightly frown from concentration, she remembered the shape of the roses and tried to plan how this might work: there was the stalk, and then the petals, starting from the core and then adding petals around it to make a nice fluffy rose bud. Rose folded the paper and then started to rip pieces in random shapes and lengths, literally piecing the scraps of paper together, and a rose unfolded before her eyes. The girl's lips opened in a big smile.

"Gutter rat!" someone screamed out of nowhere, but this time it was a choir of younger voices. It wasn't just adults they had to watch out for; other children too. Most of the boys and girls that pick on them weren't nowhere near high born, just children of bakers, shoemakers or even pageboys that would gang up and scare or beat them. Rose had had to flee from them before. She knew how those children, along with everyone else, targetted them because they were different.

As soon as she tried to flee the alley, she came face to face with two boys, so similar to each other they had to be brothers, even wearing matching grey berets on their heads. They were barely over ten years old, but had a manacing look on their faces when they recognized her from her tattered clothes.

"Found ye, rat!" one of them spat. "Ye stole somethin' again, didn'tcha? Bloody rats, go back to yer gutters!"

"I didn't steal anythin'!" she defended herself, but obviously neither of them was interested.

"What's that? Gonna eat paper trash now too?" One of them slapped her hands and again she was robbed of a flower, but this time it sent an angry jolt in her.

"No! Leave me alone!"

She was suddenly dazed when she was knocked down by a loud slap that left her cheek burning and throbbing, but it was the boy who let out a yelp.

"She's diseased!"

"Argh! Disgusting!" the other one echoed.

Rose's hand held the injured side of her face that now burned again, tears gleaming on her eyes but this time they fell from the pain and from the words. Her teeth clenched, prepared for another hit, but the boys were scared off and ran away, leaving her crying and sprawled on the cold floor. The fragile paper rose which had been knocked off her hand had peeled down in the fall and its petals were now drifting down the street like nothing more than the scraps of paper they really were. The rose was now just a stump of crumpled paper someone might have thrown out like trash, just like it had happened to her.

Rose sniffed and felt another tear trail down her face, and as if she wasn't feeling bad already, the pain in her stomach was suddenly so much she had to bend and squeeze her belly with all the strength she had, trying to apease it any way she could. It wasn't just growling, it was an actual painful twinge that nearly rendered her motionless.

She had no idea when she had last eaten anything.

Feeling utterly beat down and absolutely starving, Rose roammed back to the gutter she called home, staying away from the main streets as much as she could. Big Brother, Big Sis and Brother Peter were all there. Everyone else was probably trying to get money or food - as she was supposed to have been. She flinched in antecipation when Brother Peter saw her return empty handed.

"No food?"

Rose shook her head in defeat.

"I was yelled at 'cause I picked up a flower from the floor, and then 'em kids laughed and hit me 'cause of me rose..."

"Wha'? Did ye even _try_ to get food?"

"I-" Rose let her chin fall to her chest in shame. As Brother Peter cursed, she shyly approached Big Brother in hopes he wouldn't be angry at her too.

She felt very guilty when she looked at him. Big Brother was getting thinner each day, but even more so since he'd fell ill. He had still tried to steal them some food, and it had been lucky Brother Jumbo had been there when Big Brother was cornered down by the adults. They only managed to beat him once, otherwise Rose feared he might have died - she still shivered from the very thought. All of them agreed he just couldn't force himself like that again, even Brother Peter. His breathing worsened each day and now sounded short and painful, and they avoided moving him too much in fear of hurting him.

Despite that, Big Brother looked at her with heavy eyelids and didn't appear angry or disappointed at all, so that was a relief.

"Did ye keep the rose?" Big Sis asked. She was sitting right next to Big Brother, actually helping to hold him straight at the same time she provided some warmth to him, since the old shirt covering him like a blanket did a faint job. Rose knew the cold from the wall against his back wouldn't help him at all, but there was nothing they could do.

"No... I made the rose. I thought, maybe if I could sell 'em, we could..."

"What 're ye talkin' 'bout?" Brother Peter asked in a very different tone from Big Sis.

"I reckon'd... I made 'em out of paper" Rose said softly, chin glued to her chest again in embarrassment at the idea herself. It sounded really stupid now.

"How'd ye make them?" however, Big Sis didn't sound angry, and when the younger girl looked up, she saw how the crimson eyes seemed interested. Rose suddenly noticed Sis had a fresh bruise on her cheekbone, but she didn't say anything in that regard.

As she looked for another journal page, Rose found herself sharing how the idea occured to her. She ripped the bits and pieces and folded the paper when it needed to be, talking nonstop how she now admitted it was dumb, but for an instant she thought it might help them. When she finished, Big Sis was blinking, trying to figure out how she did it.

"It's very pretty," Big Brother said in a low voice but with a smile. Rose blushed and scratched her head.

"It's just folded paper." She hold out the flower to him and Big Brother uncovered his arm to hold the rose, placing it on top of his head. The little girl let out a laugh at the silly image. He always tried to make them laugh.

"I want one too," Big Sis asked, and Rose was more than happy to comply. Big Sis tried to imitate her with a piece of the journal too, but it was too fast and the layers ended up scattered on her lap. As it the new flower was finished, Big Sis took the flower and smelled it, as if she expected to feel the rosery scent out of the old journal paper.

"It's beautiful." She carefully placed the flower behind her ear, and surprisingly the paper didn't peel and tear down, held by her tangled black curls. Big Brother moved his chest forward so he could see her and smiled. He tried to lift his arm, probably to pull a hair out of the way, but the limb failed midway when the famine took the remaining strength out of the muscles. Both of them masked it so the little girl wouldn't notice, but luckily she had been looking at Brother Peter when the blond made a remark about the foolish roses.

"Why don'tcha make one for all o' us?" Big Brother suggested, leaning back against the wall a little more roughly than it was supposed to and resting his shoulder against Big Sis's, his head against hers, probably without really realizing. "They'll love it."

The freckled girl could barely contain her excitement.

"Why 're ye so bloody permissive wi' 'er?" Brother Peter spat angrily nevertheless, who had stood distant from them but watched the scene unfold. "Ye think it'll 'elp 'er when yer dead?"

Rose held her breath suddenly, so she didn't really process the frozen stare Big Brother shot at Brother Peter.

"Ye're dyin', Big Brother? No! It's just flu ain't it?"

"'Course, sis." He blinked and he looked even more tired when the anger vanished. "It's a slimey git of a flu." (1)

The little girl bit her lip in concern, but she didn't know what to do. Medicine was too expensive, they couldn't even afford bread. Maybe if she could actually make roses that were worth buying, she could save enough money to try and get something... but even she was past that. And she didn't believe the tooth fairy would bring any more coins for her (2). All she could do was watch and hope he'd recover.

"Tell ye what, as soon as I get better, I'll buy ye one of them roses."

Her whole face brightened up at that, for he'd just promised two things she wished with all her heart.

"Really? Then ye better remember that, I'll hold ye on that promise ye know?!"

"I'll make sure he does, too," Big Sis added. "I want to see ye looking like a princess with that rose."

She couldn't help be remembered of the boys' reaction earlier. "Ah, ye know I can't look like a pretty lass."

"Of course ye can," it was Big Brother who replied now. "Yer already our beautiful little sister, ye'll turn int'a princess."

Rose smiled again, feeling her cheeks hot yet again. However, the painful bite in her tummy made her wrench forward against her will.

Somehow she knew Big Brother's fist clenched beneath the shirt, because she too would feel guilty and responsible for not being good enough for their family in face of their suffering - she just had felt that way. But he was sick, it wasn't his fault. And like him, Rose didn't want to worry the others, so she stood up right away.

"I'll be workin' on them roses then! Yer next, Brother Peter!" she ran to try and numb her stomach out while in search for more journals, but still shouted over her shoulder. "I'll see if I find us somethin' to eat too! Oh and don't forget yer promise, right Big Brother?!"

.

_to be continued_

_._

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**Author's Notes:** (1) 'git' is a slang word for annoying or stupid person. (2) the tooth fairy reference is from the adorable little manga extra Toboso Yana did, though I guess everyone's read it.

Quick backstory: 5 years ago I was taught in 2 minutes how to craft paper roses, and back then I was going through a very rough time. Each time I hit the bottom I'd craft them, which was about the time I thought of writing this story about roses as a cathartic mean.

What I want with this is to finally let it out of my head after this long - I need to overcome this. **However, any and all feedback would be very appreaciated, and I thank you if you've read it and share some opinions.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** Don't think I'd give up on this. I did say I spent 5 years planning to write it and that I would finish it one way or the other. I need to close this and move on.

First part of the fic done thanks to the song_ "The Eyes of Sharbat Gula"_ by Nightwish; second part thanks to _"Thorny"_ from Book of Circus OST. Funny how the first chapter was made with music I heard 5 years ago, and this one to very recent songs. Words cannot describe how melancholic _"Thorny"_ makes me feel, and though the final part is meant to be happy, I felt it was tranquil and bittersweet, and that easily reflects melancholia to me.

Thank you to everyone who read and reads in the future, and to ShadowRose-SCW and Ohaymikoto in particular for reviewing. PhantomWolf64, Seeker Midnight, meroku and TheCrowMaiden

**Disclaimer** is the same

See you around.

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Big Brother didn't get better.

Instead, his breathing became more frail and shallow and he started coughing a lot. Rose shivered when she was around Big Brother and could almost feel the echo of the painful coughing in her own body, imagining it crawl and bite through her lungs too. Big Sis didn't want to leave his side, though there was obviously little she could do. The older girl was always checking up his temperature with her palm, and Rose, wanting to help, touched his forehead gently too.

"Ye're burnin', Big Brother!"

"The fever's high for days now," Big Sis replied, too worried to remember to not scare the younger child. Big Brother wasn't listening to them, too exhausted to wake up.

"He needs medicine!"

Big Sis sighed.

"Yes. But we'll do without it." The older girl looked at Rose, to the worry in her gaze. "Why don't ye go wi' Jumbo? I'll look after 'im. There's nothin' ye can do 'ere but worry further."

Rose did as she was told, but not without hearing Big Sis whispering to Big Brother, or maybe to herself.

There was nothing she could do sitting there, it was true. No worrying would be enough to help him.

But she _had_ to do something! She wouldn't just sit and let Big Brother die, she wouldn't be able live with herself if she had to be left alone without her family.

Rose started running with her eyes stuck to the ground, but not to go after Brother Jumbo. Her hands moved more out of desperation than a properly laid-out plan as she swipped the paper sheets off the floor, creasing them in her tiny fists, but she didn't care.

_Big Brother needs medicine. I need to do the best I can to buy it for him._ It felt like a mantra, repeating with each layer she ripped and pieced together in the shape of a rose. Some peeled away in her hands, and she immediately ignored them and started anew. She didn't have time, she needed to do this fast.

By the time she was done, she had a full bouquet of seven paper roses strong enough to hold on without shedding the journal petals easily. Some where darker, with heavier printed text, others were as white as she could possible hope to achieve with scattered journal paper. Her fingers were ink smudged, so there was no way she could avoid staining the stalk of the roses.

Careful not to ruin them, she walked as fast as she dared to and into the main street, remembering how the lady of the flower cart the other attracted clients.

"M'lady? Would ye like to buy som' flowers?"

A lady looked at her, attracted by the cockney speech, but then turned her head again and carried on without a single word.

"Sir? Would ye like to buy som' flowers? 'ello, m'lady, do ye like flowers? Would ye like som' flowers? 'scuse me, sir?"

She carried on relentlessly, encouraged by every apparent hesitation on the people passing by her, by any glance in her direction. Someone would buy her flowers. Someone had to, she had to sell them and get the money for the medicine Big Brother needed. There could be no doubt.

"Sir? M'lord, would ye like som' flowers?"

The couple of noblemen followed by their butler looked to the side the voice came from, but their eyelines were higher and they had to search and lower their gaze find her. The lady seemed nice, but it was the gentleman that showed interest and she adressed him, for he had kind eyes and a round and friendly face, with circular glasses, sideburns and a moustache. He seemed like a kind-hearted person.

"Would ye like to buy som' flowers?"

Despite the lady's not very enthusiastic face, the gentleman smiled as he looked to the roses, surely seeing they weren't natural flowers.

"Oh, how unique. These roses are special, aren't they, little one?"

Rose's breathing became a little short from anxiety.

"Yes, very much so, m'lord. Would ye like some, please? Just halfpence(1) each!"

She was asking for too much, she knew it. But she had to do it.

"I'll take two, then."

The lord signaled the butler for him to deliver the money. Her gaze fell on the servant as he searched for the coins. Could she steal his purse? She would lose the roses that way, and she probably wouldn't be able to run so fast. She wouldn't make it.

She hoped no one had noticed her looking at the purse and she offered the two requested flowers to the gentleman, but instead of a penny coin, Rose found herself looking at several coins, 8 pence in total, which made her look up out of reflex.

"M'lord?"

The gentleman smiled.

"Keep it."

Rose gaped and looked down at the coins again. That was worth more than the whole bouquet she had made. Eight pence! That was more than she had ever been able to get, even if she worked a full day! With this, she could-

The truth crushed her suddenly.

This was too little money. It would buy bread, but not medicine. No matter how much she tried, her paper roses were just trash and she would never be able to sell them and get enough money. Brother Peter was right, she was too stupid. At least it would get them some bread, but that... Big Brother couldn't even eat right. How could she help him with scraps of paper?!

The sobs escaped her lips without any warning, but they angered her instead of embarrassing her. She was so dumb, and now she was crying over that!

"Girl? What's wrong?"

Rose gasped and realized she was crying so much it even caught the attention of the nobles and they were looking at her. It was the lady that spoke, but it was now the gentleman again that approached her.

"What's wrong? Why are you crying, child?"

"Me brother... 'e's sick, and I... I'm tryin', but I can't do anythin' 'bout it. I'm so dumb!"

"You have a brother?"

"Why can't I... I don't want 'im to die." The words too came out without her command, and hearing them out loud made her shiver and the sobs returned heavily, shaking her small frame so much one of the paper rose buds fell from the stalk to a small puddle. The water waved, one time and again as soft rains drops started falling.

As if the rain alerted her, Rose came back to her senses in a jolt. She realized what she had just said and looked wide-eyed to the nobleman, who had approached enough to put a plump hand on her shoulder out of sympathy. Instead, it scared her. Who was this man? No one treated gutter rats like this, they wouldn't even give them alms, let alone touch them. Unless they wanted to hurt them..

Rose jerked away from the man and started running, not listening his plea to wait.

The rain started pouring by the time she found her way back to the gutter. The roses were long forgotten and melted down on the floor somewhere, but the coins were tightly shut in her fists. In her hurry to flee, she had forgotten to at least try and buy some bread, so she hoped that everyone else had been able to get something to make up for her mistake yet again.

But maybe she wasn't that stupid. She did get more money this time, so she helped a bit at the very least. If only Big Brother could get better... Even before turning at the corner of the street, she could hear a distinctive coughing that rushed her freezing feet. As soon as she made the turn, she knew something was wrong.

Big Brother was awake again, but even from a distance she could see him quiver and the cough was so bad it sounded he was suffocating.

"Big Brother, try to calm down 'n breathe in," Brother tried to say with best intention, his hand holding his back, but it did little to nothing to help.

"I know ye want to 'elp, but-"

"Sayin' to calm down don't really 'elp, ye see?" Sister Wendy finished what Big Sis was saying, trying to help by keeping the cover over his head as he was leaning forward. It seemeed like he was about to vomit.

"No! What 'appened?" Rose yelled, running towards them.

"Little sister," Brother Jumbo held her gently and covered her with his own sheet. "Please don't worry, Brother'll get better in a moment."

"Can't 'e breathe?!"

"Please cover yerself from the rain," he insisted despite the little girl's desperate worries. Big Brother jerked a couple more times, curved over himself as if that could help him breathe, but at last he was finally able to inhale and the coughing calmed slowly. He looked absolutely exhausted.

"Just lie back 'n rest," even Brother Peter was clearly worried. "Bloody rain's gettin' worse, too! Let's just get together."

Rose just watched as Big Sis helped Big Brother resting back again, and again she felt completely useless. She shut her fists, and felt the coins squeeze against the palms.

"I've got money."

"Really?" Sister Wendy smiled. "That's great!"

"Good, at least we'll eat somethin' tomorrow," Brother Peter replied. "Just cover yerself so ye don't get sick too."

Rose nodded, but the defeat felt heavy on her tired feet. Suddenly, she was very tired too, and she wasn't even sick like Big Brother.

She snuggled between the two elder Brothers, holding each of their arms with her own, fists still shut tightly.

"I sold me roses. I did it. I'm sorry it wasn't enough though," she whispered more than talked.

"Good job, little sis," Brother told her with a smile, voice over the rain. He let her hide her freezing feet beneath the stub of his leg as usual. "Buy us a great bread tomorrow, 'k?"

Rose had to smile too, and agreed. She was a bit afraid to lose the coins, but still, she rested her head against Big Brother's arm and closed her eyes, feeling the rain hitting and starting to soak the cover over her head. Big Brother coughed again.

Some minutes later, the wheels of a carriage splashed a small wall of water. The noise made Rose blink and look up with heavy eyelids. The carriage stopped and someone came outside, opening an umbrella as he did so. It took her a moment, but as she blinked again, she recognized the nobleman from earlier.

"Ah? How did 'e...?"

"What is it?" Big Sis asked, looking at her past Big Brother.

"That's the man that paid me flowers! 'e followed me!" Rose clenched herself to Big Brother's arm so strongly she was sure she was hurting him. What was that nobleman doing there?

All her family were now looking at the stranger who approached, clearly walking towards them. Brother Peter would be squizzing down the small blade he carried, just in case.

The nobleman didn't have his butler or wife beside him this time, and he stood alone there over them, looking at each one of them attentively.

He looked at Rose in the end, and smiled.

"You have more than one brother, I see."

They were all taken aback, not really knowing what to say or what to expect - least of all Rose.

Despite everything, the first one to speak was Big Brother.

"Ye paid for 'er roses? M'lord."

Rose looked up at him for having guessed it right, and he started coughing.

The nobleman turned his gaze to Big Brother and after another one of those looks, the smiled again.

"I did, son."

And he extended his hand.

...

He wasn't sure when he woke up. He felt so tranquil and comfortable, he couldn't really tell whether he was dreaming, imagining it in some strangely comforting fevered delusion. The warm sheets felt like the touch of silk (or rather, what he imagined silk would feel like) against his bare skin; it was unreal how a fabric could be that comfortable. It was like the bed itself was embracing him, cradling him until he was safetly tucked in. Something that, obviously, was a completely foreign and unknown feeling for him.

Was he dead? He was dead, certainly. His body didn't have any weight, completely relaxed and rested like he wouldn't even know was possible. There wasn't any form of cold, no chilly air or piercing and wet cold to claw at his bones. This comfort didn't exist in the streets. He realized that most of all, the weightlessness and the warmth came from his chest. He could breathe. There was barely no pain left at all, just a sort of a numb feeling.

And he had always thought that Death would be a ripping and lancinating cold shove that would tear him apart.

So this couldn't be Death.

He peeked between the eyelashes, still not sure whether he was dreaming or not. The light was slightly dim, and still it felt a bit too bright as it came from big windows from where a slight breeze flowed to the room. He was completely protected from it by his unreal shelter. He didn't really remember how he got to this room, but somehow he knew it was like an infirmary. There was someone there, too.

After properly adjusting his eyes and realizing this might actually not be a dream, he found the familiar black curled hair and then fully distinguished Big Sis, sitting on a chair near him with a crutch nearby.

"Ye're awake."

Her wide smile was the first thing he properly registered.

"I definately am."

He started to piece things together again, blaming the previous exhaustion for not remembering everything right away. The Baron, the travel, the almost immediate transfer to this infirmary and the doctor that attended to him. He wasn't too sure how long ago that had been, though.

"'ow long was I out?"

"Ye've rested what ye needed to. They said the pneumonia was serious, and ye might 'ave not made it."

"I feel all better now."

"I'm glad."

He turned to her and smiled. There was no need saying or asking how often and for how long she had been there while he rested, either. Sometimes, thanking someone just wasn't quite right, was it? What could be done at those times?

Sis diverged the slight beat on her face by pointing at his right side. He turned his face and burried it in the pillow as he saw a small coin resting just beside it. He picked it up and rolled it between his fingers. What was a penny doing there? Surely no one had forgotten it.

"Little sis left that one for ye. Made me promise I'd give it to ye first thing," she explained, pointed at the coin. "She sold some roses to the Baron... to Father. 'e paid eight pence for 'em, so she gave one to each of us and kept two for 'erself."

"Really? She made eight pence wi' 'em?"

"She did."

He looked at the coin again and smiled widely. His little sister was simply beyond words. He did his best to keep everyone happy with silly tricks to distract them, but there was nothing matching what a child like her could do by simply being there.

...

There was a nice wind.

The work she had for the day was over, so she spent the entire afternoon playing and running until she finally threw herself exhausted to the grass and felt the soft breeze refresh her sweaty body. She did know it might be bad for her health, but it felt so good.

This place was like heaven. She could eat, play, sleep comfortably and even had this great grass and wind, and the landscape! She smiled to herself looking at the farther countryside and then at the clouds, breathing in deeply and closing her eyes.

"And wha' is my cute lil' sister thinkin' 'bout?"

Rose opened her eyes again and turned her head back, finding Big Brother staring at her upside down. He looked funny, with the whole workhouse behind him hanging from the ground now turned into the sky and the huge blue sky falling past his head and orange bangs.

She didn't even realized that her own hair bangs splattered on the grass uncovered her face like this.

"Hi, Big Brother! Ye're upside down."

Big Brother chuckled and looked up (or down) to the sky.

"Ah, I like it better to 'ave the sky o'er me head, not under."

Rose giggled, rolled on the grass and sat down. The world spinned slightly and left her dizzy for a second after she rolled, but it soon passed. Big Brother walked to her, the empty sleeve of his shirt waving at the wind.

"Ye 'ave somethin' there," Big Brother said, pointing to her ear.

"Eh?" The little girl touched her hair, searching for some grass puff that might have got stuck, but found nothing. Big Brother chuckled again and shook his head.

"Not there. 'ere." His hand extended past her face and gave a twist of wrist, and as he pulled his hand back in sight, a white rose appeared out of nowhere.

Rose's eyes widened in surprise, jumping between the petals one time and again, her mouth parted and this fast strange beat hit her chest before her whole face brightened, her eyes teared and the loudest and happiest squeal echoed through the field, making some children turn to them, wondering what happened.

"I can't believe it! It's real! Big Brother, that's magic!"

Big Brother let out a real laugh this time.

"I hold on to me promises."

Rose squealed again until she became breathless, so happy that little tears rolled down her face. She held on to the rose carefully, feeling the softness of the petals against her palm and fingers. It felt nothing like the flowers she crafted, it barely felt like anything she had ever touched. It was so soft and delicate, with a distinctive fresh feeling too, there were no thorns on the small stalk, and there was a faded but still clear and nice scent on the bud.

"Thank ye, Big Brother!" She looked up at him, his face blurred beneath the water on her eyes. "Ye didn't forget the promise! Not just this one. Ye got better like ye said!"

Big Brother took her hand and raised it to her ear, helping her place the rose between her hair.

"Ah, only Big Sis looks good this way! Ye know I'm not girly!"

"Ye look just as pretty," he said, fixing her hair gently. "I don't do magic, ye see? Ye're the one that does."

Rose blinked in confusion, and Big Brother was smiling as he showed her his hand again. Not one, but two big white roses were there now.

There was a gasp, and then Big Brother did fear he might have lost a bit of hearing.

"WHAAAH Aweeesome! ! ! Big Brother, promise ye teach me to do that! Promise!"

He laughed again.

"Ye never gonna let me go on yer promises, eh?"

Rose gave a huge smile widely and threw herself to him, squeezing him on a tight hug that nearly drove him off balance as he tried to keep the roses safe.

"'course not! 'cause ye're me awesome Big Brother!"

**~おわり~**

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Author's Notes: (1) I did a bit of research on the British currency during XIX century (mostly from the website oldbaileyonline dot org) so I would try having some notion on how much things costed back then.  
The alms Baron Kelvin gives to Doll - 8 pence - would be 4 times the usual she could hope to make, and over sixteen times the price she was asking for the paper roses. I have no extensive knowledge on this at all, so I apologize for possible inaccurancy.

The small simple description that Joker made on Death - ripping and lancinating cold shove that would tear him apart - was initially meant to symbolize a death by pneumonia/tuberculosis, but actually, it's a reference to his death. Sebastian's blade thrust that ripped his arm off and made him bleed to death. Hopefully it didn't felt too forced as a reference.

**Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated.**


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